Faculty Profile

Mary G Carey, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN

Associate Professor

Associate Director of Clinical Nursing Research Center

The overall goal of my program of research is to improve the electrocardiogram's (ECG) detection of cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, and prolonged QT syndrome; and the ECG's use in the predictive detection of cardiac events and sudden cardiac death. I have monitored a variety of populations including hospitalized acute coronary syndrome patients, ambulatory patients with heart failure and, more recently, healthy on-duty firefighters. I founded the Cardiovascular Research Lab at the University of Buffalo and have mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students pursuing studies in the field of electrocardiology. Over the next five years, I look forward to accelerating my program of research with a new collaboration in the School of Medicine with the Heart Research Follow-up Program which complements my research expertise.

Mary G. Carey RN, CNS, PhD, FAHA is a critical care nurse by training with an earned Master's degree in critical care nursing (CNS) from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She pursued a doctoral degree in the Department of Physiological Nursing at UCSF under the mentorship of Dr. Barbara J. Drew in the Drew Cardiovascular Research Lab. After graduation, Dr. Carey assumed an appointment as an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She was awarded a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) with a physician mentor, Dr. John Canty, where she acquired new complementary skills such as interpreting swine ECGs. Her multidisciplinary, collaborative efforts resulted in data-based publications, national and international presentations, and two NIH grants, and she was subsequently promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Dr. Carey's research laboratory housed four to six nursing students along with two medical students encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration in their formidable years.

The long term goal of Dr. Carey's research program is to improve electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring so that disease conditions are better detected. This includes depolarization and repolarization abnormalities, myocardial ischemia, and cardiac arrhythmias in resting as well as the ambulatory ECG. Her most recent work focuses on identifying ECG predictors of sudden cardiac death among those at high risk for cardiac events including patients (n=330) with heart failure (K23) and professional firefighters (R21). Her scientific publications (n>100) include peer-reviewed, original research and report new findings from the analysis of acquired data; in addition to case studies, expert opinions and book chapters. Her years of work in research and publication have helped demonstrate that the ECG, in addition to being noninvasive, inexpensive, and ubiquitous, provides valuable clinical and pathophysiological data that cannot be obtained with other diagnostic tools. Dr. Carey has consistently heralded the axiom that bedside nurses are the sentries of the ECG.

When asked, Dr. Carey's states her most rewarding role is mentoring doctoral students to help them become first rate scientists. Dr. Carey helps seed their scientific discipline and aspirations early in their careers when it makes the most impact. Using an apprenticeship-model, Dr. Carey's students are immersed in the scientific process which yields student presentations, publications, recognition through awards, and ultimately, fulltime faculty opportunities at top-ranked research universities.